haven’t had any reason or opportunity to for years...”
“Well... I am family now, aren’t I? I’m your mate.”
“Yes, you are. So... they were mafia. Like the Novaks.”
“The Novaks are mafia?” The tone of his voice rose in surprise.
“Yeah, but not the same. They’re Russian background, but grew up here. My family had a Ukrainian branch and an American branch.”
“Did your family work with the Novaks? Is that why you’re so close with them?”
“Hardly.” I sighed. “I guess I really need to start at the beginning.”
Again I searched for words. Again, I just had to start talking without any idea what was going to come out of my mouth. “So. Growing up. Mafia family.”
“Did you have any siblings?”
“Technically, no. I had a lot of cousins who were like siblings, though.”
“That must have been nice.” His voice was soft and wistful.
“Sometimes.”
“I always wanted more family. But I’m distracting you. Back to the story. Mafia family.”
“Right. Being what they were, my family had a lot of enemies. We were always careful, always on guard, but then one day, someone messed up, or someone was better than we were. I honestly don’t know any of the details because I was eleven. But there was shooting. Me and my cousin Fedir hid in one of our safe holes, there were several throughout the house, and when we came out, everyone was dead or gone.”
“Shit.”
“I found my dad’s body in his office. Mom’s in the garden. I think she’d been trying to run away.”
“Oh, Wyatt.” Jordan tightened his arms around me.
“You know, my name wasn’t Wyatt back then.”
“What was it?”
“Wasyl.” The name sounded foreign on my tongue. I hadn’t been called that in years.
“Why did you change it?”
“I didn’t. They did. Maybe it was just the American predilection to mangle everything, or maybe it was to hide my connection with my true identity. Maybe both.”
“Would you like me to use that name instead?”
I had to think about that. “No... I’m not that person anymore. I think being called Wasyl will bring up more difficult memories.”
“Whatever you want, fluffy.”
“Fedir and I didn’t know what to do. Where to go. We didn’t know if the men who had attacked my family were still in the city or what. So we lived on the streets for a couple weeks, swiping food, sleeping in corners. We got caught stealing a couple times, and Fedir protected me. He ended up with a nasty cut on the side of his jaw, and it got infected. His whole face turned yellow, and swollen. I was worried he was going to die.”
“Did he?”
I shook my head. “My American cousin Uriel found us. I thought we were saved.”
“But...”
“But... I don’t know what happened to Fedir. I don’t even know if he survived with that infection. But he was an alpha, so if he did, I hope he got better treatment than I did.”
“What happened to you?”
Here was the kicker. The truly hard part to share. Would it change Jordan’s view of me, once he knew the full truth? That I was dirty? Broken? Damaged goods?
“Uriel owned a brothel. Illegal, of course. All shifters. All omegas. Most underage. I... I was put to work immediately. For the first year or two, I kept thinking someone would save me, but who was left to know I was alive? I guess I’d hoped Fedir would help, but I don’t think he knew what happened to me. And even then, he was only a kid, too.”
“Was... god, this is why I didn’t want you to come over when I was in rut. You must have been terrified.”
“I was a little. But honestly, I was in so much pain I would have done just about anything to stop it. And hear me when I say this, Jordan. Being with you is anything but painful.”
“Even the sex?” The fear and guilt in his voice pulled at my heartstrings.
“Maybe especially the sex.”
Nothing but the sounds of our breath filled the room. I turned around to face him, our chests pressing together.
His eyes were brown, but the flecks of gold and hints of black made me feel as if I were staring into unending depths. I brushed a finger over his lips. Had we kissed our first night? I couldn’t remember. It was such a haze of need and desire and satisfaction.
We hadn’t kissed since then. Pecks on the head, cheek, yes. But not...
Eyes locked on his, I pushed forward.
“I haven’t wanted to push—“
“I know. I appreciate it.”
My lips touched his. There was